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WARM-UPS

1. CULTURE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about culture. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

digital / library / museum / website crashes / being unable to cope / victims / success / challenge / Google / showcase / European culture / collections / being swamped

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. MUSEUMS: Do you like museums? What would you put in a museum showing your country’s culture? Complete the table below. Share what you wrote with your partner(s).

Category	Most important exhibits	Why these are important
History
Science
Music
Art
Nature
The future

4. INTERNET: Students A strongly believe the Internet is better than the world’s best museums; Students B strongly believe that museums people can walk around are better than the Internet. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. WEBSITE ANNOYANCES: With your partner(s), discuss which of these website annoyances bother you most (10 = highly annoying, 1 = no problem). Share your thoughts with other students.

_____  Websites freezing     _____  Pages not found     _____  Pop-up windows

_____  Pages taking forever to load     _____  Lots of advertisements     _____  Links that don’t work

6. DIGITAL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘digital’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A new European website had huge problems on its launch day.	T / F
b.	The website was designed to handle around 10 million visitors an hour.	T / F
c.	Officials say the website will come back stronger.	T / F
d.	An official said the website crashed because it was unsuccessful.	T / F
e.	People say the website might be a rival for Google one day.	T / F
f.	World museums from every continent are working with the website.	T / F
g.	France perhaps put a bit more effort into the site than other nations.	T / F
h.	Most of the site’s visitors were from the United States of America.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	within	a.	best
2	cope with	b.	flood
3.	accessible	c.	work
4.	utmost	d.	display
5.	victim	e.	available
6.	challenge	f.	handle
7.	showcase	g.	number one
8.	effort	h.	inside
9.	swamp	i.	casualty
10.	top	j.	rival

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):

1.	A new European digital	a.	not accessible
2	The Europeana website could not cope	b.	with English
3.	The Europeana site is temporarily	c.	library and museum
4.	We are doing our utmost to	d.	of its success
5.	the website was a victim	e.	European art and culture
6.	challenge Google as a place	f.	into getting the site online
7.	It is a showcase of	g.	with the 10 million visitors
8.	France put a lot of effort	h.	came from Germany
9.	swamp the Internet	i.	reopen Europeana
10.	Most visitors to the Europeana site	j.	for people to search

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A new European digital library and museum was __________ online on November 20th and crashed __________ three hours of its launch. The Europeana website could not cope with the 10 million visitors an hour. This is three times more than its servers were __________ for. A message on the website read: “The Europeana site is temporarily not accessible __________ to overwhelming interest after its launch.” The message continued: “We are doing our __________ to reopen Europeana in a more robust version as soon as possible. We will be __________ by mid-December.” A spokesman for Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner responsible for the __________, said the crash showed the website was a "victim of its success". He did not __________ to disappointed visitors.		back designed apologize put utmost within project due
Many people believe the website could __________ Google as a place for people to search. It brings __________ over two million books, music recordings, photographs, paintings and films. It is a __________ of European art and culture. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, have offered their __________. Although it is a Europe-wide project, France put a lot of __________ into getting the site online. France’s cultural ministry was worried by Google’s plans to put millions of books online and __________ the Internet with English. Most visitors to the Europeana site came from Germany (17 per cent), __________ by France (10 per cent) and Spain (9 per cent). The __________ English-speaking country was the United States at 4 per cent.		followed  together effort challenge swamp collections top showcase

LISTENING:  Listen and fill in the spaces.

A new European digital library and museum _________________ November 20th and crashed within three hours of its launch. The Europeana website _________________ with the 10 million visitors an hour. This is three times more than its servers were designed for. A message on the website read: “The Europeana site is temporarily not _________________ overwhelming interest after its launch.” The message continued: “We are ______________ to reopen Europeana in a more robust version as soon as possible. We will _________________ -December.” A spokesman for Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner responsible for the project, said the crash showed the website _________________ its success". He did not apologize to disappointed visitors.

Many people believe the website could challenge Google _________________ people to search. It brings together over two million books, music recordings, photographs, paintings and films. ______________ of European art and culture. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, _________________ collections. Although it is a Europe-wide project, France put a lot of effort ___________________ online. France’s cultural ministry was worried by Google’s plans _________________ books online and swamp the Internet with English. Most visitors to the Europeana site came from Germany (17 per cent), followed by France (10 per cent) and Spain (9 per cent). The top English-speaking _________________ United States at 4 per cent.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘digital’ and ‘library’.

digital

library

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

within cope due to utmost mid victim

challenge showcase collections effort swamp top

STUDENT WEBSITE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about websites in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CULTURE DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘culture’?
c)	Do you think a website dedicated to the art and culture of a continent is a good idea?
d)	What are your favourite websites?
e)	Do you think you can learn more from a museum or a website?
f)	What do you think of the fact that the Europeana website crashed on its first day?
g)	What do you learn from websites?
h)	What would you like to see on a website dedicated to your culture?
i)	How do you feel when websites you visit crash or freeze?
j)	Have you ever been a victim of your own success?

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think the new Europeana website could challenge Google?
c)	What would you look at if you spent a couple of hours browsing through books, recordings, paintings, etc, from your continent’s culture?
d)	Are you proud of your culture?
e)	What other world cultures are you most interested in?
f)	Do you understand why France is worried about the Internet being swamped by English?
g)	How have English-speaking cultures affected your own culture?
h)	Do you think it’s important the Internet keeps a record of your culture?
i)	What would you say in a videoed message about your culture?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Viviane Reding?

LANGUAGE

A new European digital (1) ____ and museum was put online on November 20th and crashed within three hours of its launch. The Europeana website could not (2) ____ with the 10 million visitors an hour. This is three times more than its servers were (3) ____ for. A message on the website read: “The Europeana site is temporarily not accessible due to overwhelming interest after its launch.” The message continued: “We are doing our (4) ____ to reopen Europeana in a more robust version as soon as possible. We will be (5) ____ by mid-December.” A spokesman for Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner responsible for the project, said the crash showed the website was a "victim of its success". He did not (6) ____ to disappointed visitors.

Many people believe the website could (7) ____ Google as a place for people to search. It brings together over two million books, music recordings, photographs, paintings and films. It is a (8) ____ of European art and culture. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, have offered their collections. (9) ____ it is a Europe-wide project, France put a lot of effort into getting the site online. France’s cultural ministry was worried by Google’s plans to put millions of books online and (10) ____ the Internet with English. Most visitors to the Europeana site came from Germany (17 per cent), (11) ____ by France (10 per cent) and Spain (9 per cent). The top English-speaking country was the United States (12) ____ 4 per cent.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	librarians	(b)	libraries	(c)	librarian	(d)	library
2.	(a)	dope	(b)	hope	(c)	cope	(d)	rope
3.	(a)	designer	(b)	designed	(c)	designing	(d)	designs
4.	(a)	utmost	(b)	at most	(c)	most	(d)	mostly
5.	(a)	backing	(b)	backer	(c)	back	(d)	backed
6.	(a)	apologies	(b)	apologetic	(c)	apology	(d)	apologize
7.	(a)	challenger	(b)	challenge	(c)	challenges	(d)	challenging
8.	(a)	showcase	(b)	bookcase	(c)	briefcase	(d)	in case
9.	(a)	However	(b)	Although	(c)	But	(d)	Even
10.	(a)	bog	(b)	marsh	(c)	swamp	(d)	quicksand
11.	(a)	followed	(b)	follows	(c)	followers	(d)	follow
12.	(a)	for	(b)	to	(c)	by	(d)	at

WRITING: 

Write about culture for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the Europeana website project. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CULTURE: Make a poster about your culture. Describe the most important aspects and how they have changed. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. WEBSITE: Write a magazine article about a new website on your culture. Include imaginary interviews with the head of the project and someone from another culture.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the European Commissioner Viviane Reding. Ask her three questions about the Europeana website. Give her your three ideas on what to do to make the website better. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

6. DIARY / JOURNAL: Write a diary entry about an average day in your life. Focus on the different cultural things you do. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	within	a.	inside
2	cope with	b.	handle
3.	accessible	c.	available
4.	utmost	d.	best
5.	victim	e.	casualty
6.	challenge	f.	rival
7.	showcase	g.	display
8.	effort	h.	work
9.	swamp	i.	flood
10.	top	j.	number one

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	A new European digital	a.	library and museum
2	The Europeana website could not cope	b.	with the 10 million visitors
3.	The Europeana site is temporarily	c.	not accessible
4.	We are doing our utmost to	d.	reopen Europeana
5.	the website was a victim	e.	of its success
6.	challenge Google as a place	f.	for people to search
7.	It is a showcase of	g.	European art and culture
8.	France put a lot of effort	h.	into getting the site online
9.	swamp the Internet	i.	with English
10.	Most visitors to the Europeana site	j.	came from Germany

GAP FILL:

European culture site crashes on launch

A new European digital library and museum was put online on November 20th and crashed within three hours of its launch. The Europeana website could not cope with the 10 million visitors an hour. This is three times more than its servers were designed for. A message on the website read: “The Europeana site is temporarily not accessible due to overwhelming interest after its launch.” The message continued: “We are doing our utmost to reopen Europeana in a more robust version as soon as possible. We will be back by mid-December.” A spokesman for Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner responsible for the project, said the crash showed the website was a "victim of its success". He did not apologize to disappointed visitors.

Many people believe the website could challenge Google as a place for people to search. It brings together over two million books, music recordings, photographs, paintings and films. It is a showcase of European art and culture. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, have offered their collections. Although it is a Europe-wide project, France put a lot of effort into getting the site online. France’s cultural ministry was worried by Google’s plans to put millions of books online and swamp the Internet with English. Most visitors to the Europeana site came from Germany (17 per cent), followed by France (10 per cent) and Spain (9 per cent). The top English-speaking country was the United States at 4 per cent.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

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